


Desperate Measures

by Alexandria (heartfullofelves)



Category: Marco Polo (TV)
Genre: Crossdressing, Desperation, Enemy Lovers, F/F, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-25 17:29:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20728061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartfullofelves/pseuds/Alexandria
Summary: Mei Lin searches for her daughter. Empress Chabi finds her first.





	Desperate Measures

**Author's Note:**

> Convenientalias prompted "Mei Lin/Chabi with some crossdressing".
> 
> It turned out more "women in pants" than crossdressing but I hope you like it anyway!

Lotus and Ling Ling could not have travelled far; it hadn’t taken Mei Lin long to do what she needed to do in Cambulac. And yet, she and Sifu had now been searching for them for months. Nobody had seen an old warrior priestess travelling with a child.

Returning to South China, free this time, was strange. Mei Lin could see how it had changed under the Khan’s rule. Villagers were rebuilding, farmers were replanting their crops, economies were recovering after years of war with the Mongols. She hadn’t thought it possible, but the people were moving on.

The road took her and Sifu to a bustling town she’d never heard of. While she got strange looks for being a woman dressed in tunic and trousers, she wanted to stay for at least a day and ask around for Lotus and her daughter. A town this size, built on a main thoroughfare, had to offer some answers. If it didn’t, she might just break – she had been parted from her daughter far too long.

Sifu agreed with her decision, so they set themselves up for two nights in an inn. Sifu paid for the rooms with coins he conjured from somewhere in his robes.

“I may be blind,” he told her, “but I can see your brow raised in surprise.”

She smoothed her face, annoyed. “You’re very resourceful.”

“As are you.” His calm, know-it-all tone did nothing to ease her irritation. “Do not think I don’t know about the gold you have tucked next to your breast. I assume you took it from Ahmad.”

“What use has a dead man for gold?” she replied, opening the door to her room.

“Indeed.”

* * *

At sunrise, they parted ways to search for information. However, as morning gave way to noon, Mei Lin began to despair, for she had found nothing. South China was too vast; she could search for years before finding a trace of Ling Ling. Her shoulders slumped as she trudged through the streets, mud sticking to her boots.

A commotion startled her into looking up: a stately figure riding down the street, surrounded by a small retinue of guards. Some Mongol lord, she guessed. The townsfolk bowed their heads as the lord and his guards rode past, but she refused. Outside the Khan’s court, she had nothing to gain by feigning respect, especially not for an unknown entity. So she stared at the main figure, trying to see if she recognised him. But he wore a helmet and no distinguishable accessories, dressed in plain black. The only thing interesting about him was the womanly shape of his leather-clad legs. Mei Lin shrugged it off and walked on.

She met Sifu back at the tavern for the evening meal. When he could tell her nothing, she shovelled food into her mouth to try and fill the hole his disappointed words had left. Neither did he know who the rider had been, though he too had guessed it was an important Mongol.

“To keep the peace, perhaps,” said Mei Lin. “Although a young one like him won’t last long.”

“How do you know he was young?”

“His girly legs.”

They smirked and got back to their food.

Sifu went out again later, stating personal business. With nothing better to do, Mei Lin visited their horses in the stable before going up to her room. She was about to begin her nightly routine before bed when the door opened. Her heart leapt into her mouth.

“You,” she gasped.

“Hello, Mei Lin.”

Empress Chabi, dressed in black leather, stepped forwards and closed the door behind her. They were on other sides of the room, but it was not enough distance.

Mei Lin’s eyes narrowed. “How did you find me? _Why_ did you find me?” She had not seen the Empress since Xanadu, hadn’t spoken to her for longer still. Chabi had no reason to be in her room in South China.

Chabi stood straight, drawing Mei Lin’s attention to her legs, and raised her eyebrows. “No-one is looking for you, if that is your concern. Nobody cares about the whore that killed a traitor to the empire. My covert presence in this town has nothing to do with you.”

So it was known – to the Empress, at least – that Ahmad died at Mei Lin’s hands. She managed to keep the surprise from showing on her face.

“Very well,” she said. “I accept our being in the same town as coincidence. But chance did not bring you to my door.”

Chabi’s tinkling laugh grated on Mei Lin’s nerves. “My men heard gossip about a woman dressed as a man, searching for her daughter. There was no reason to assume it was you, but I had them follow up on it.”

“Why?” Mei Lin’s jaw tightened, and she stalked across the room.

“Because,” said Chabi, “I know where Ling Ling is.” She may have been dressed as a plain-clothed man, but she still spoke with a queen’s lofty tones.

Mei Lin wanted to hit her. All sense of propriety disappeared, and she grabbed the front of Chabi’s shirt, feeling the leather stretch in her fingers.

“Where is she?” Mei Lin hissed.

Keeping her face neutral, Chabi covered Mei Lin’s hands with her own, loosening their grip on her shirt. “Now why would I tell you that? You have brought nothing but trouble to my family: seducing my husband, trying to kill me, scheming with our enemies, running away. You are a fool if you believe I will give you dear Ling Ling for nothing.”

Experience had long ago taught Mei Lin to keep a knife in her right boot. She grabbed it and pressed the tip against Chabi’s throat, eyes flashing with anger.

“Tell me where she is.”

But Chabi just returned her stare. “No.”

Mei Lin had always used one of two ways to get what she wanted, and violence wasn’t working. Very well. She put away the knife. Then she smiled and kissed the spot where her blade had nicked Chabi’s skin.

She put her lips to Chabi’s ear, enjoying the way Chabi shivered against her. “You forgot something, Empress,” she whispered. “I seduced you too.”

* * *

The next morning, Mei Lin met Sifu for breakfast in the tavern. She was neither smiling nor skipping, but he must have noticed her light step.

“You are in a good mood,” he observed. “Like a lonely prince after he’s had a good fuck. What did you discover?”

She sat down beside him. “I know where to find Lotus and Ling Ling. We’ll leave as soon as I’ve eaten.”

He smiled his usual smug smile. “That is good news. Who – excuse me, _what_ did you have to do in exchange for this information?”

She fixed him with a stern look he couldn’t even see. He didn’t need to know about the Empress, and he wouldn’t like it if he did. The Khan’s family had destroyed his life too.

He did not need to hear about how Mei Lin had stripped Empress Chabi of her leather trousers, or how many times she had made her come. And the last thing she would admit was the loss she had felt when Chabi walked away.

No, she and Sifu were on a mission. They were not friends but travel companions with a single purpose; her business was her own. Soon they would reunite with their respective loved ones and part ways. Their lives would be theirs again.


End file.
